Muson Festival opens October 16

This year’s Muson festival tagged Muson: coming of age, kicks off on Thursday, October 16 with My Kind of Music, the personality programme where a select cast of eminent Nigerians provide a rare glimpse of their persona to the audience. This year’s star-studded cast include the former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Scion of the Awolowo family and former Nigerian Ambassador, Dr. (Mrs.) Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu; former University of Ibadan Vice-Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo and former Federal Minister of Housing, Lands and Urban Development, Chief (Mrs.) Mobolaji Osomo.

The festival drama follows on Saturday, October 18 featuring Jagua Nana – the Musical, Cyprian Ekwesi’s famous novel produced and directed by Wole Oguntokun.

Lovers of visual arts will welcome the return of the visual arts exhibition to this year’s festival programme. The exhibition will open at 4.00 p.m. on Sunday, October 19, and run until October 22. The event is organised in collaboration with the Visual Arts Society of Nigeria (VASON).

This year’s classical concert holds on Sunday, October 19 featuring the MUSON Symphony Orchestra conducted by MUSON’s new Artistic Director, Composer, Cellist and Kora player, Tunde Jegede. The Orchestra will perform the very popular Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin and other works by renowned international and Nigerian composers.

MUSON Festival devotees will be treated to a new and exciting festival offering on Monday, October 20 as the Society of the Performing Arts in Nigeria (SPAN) an esteemed partner of MUSON will be contributing dance workshop and concert. The workshop, which is free will hold at 2.00 p.m. on that day and will focus on Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary and Latin. The dance concert which will follow at 6.00 p.m. on the same day, will feature “IO” a mini production described as “a non-stop, breath-taking theatrical production, a merging of different genres of Arts, ranging from drama, to dance music, to spoken words and singing, to live painting” It promises, according to SPAN, to be “an entertaining, innovative, and crafted production that will keep the audience smiling and applauding through the night.”

The grand finale of the MUSIQuest, the annual talent competition for youths will feature the best candidates from the earlier stages of the competition in a concert. The event is scheduled for Thursday, October 23.

This year’s Jazz Night, which comes up on Friday, October 24, is designed to showcase two young promising Nigerian jazz artistes. The opening act will feature a MUSON alumnus, Jazz Saxophonist, composer and arranger, Imoleayo Balogun. Balogun and his Big Band will perform Jazz music “blended with African philosophy”. The main act will feature Bez whose music has been described as an “unusual hybrid of Soul, Rock, Jazz and R&B music that sets him apart from mainstream Afro hip-hop movement”. His debut album Super Sun was listed on the Boston Globe as one of the Top 10 “World Music albums of 2011”.